06/08/11

6:20 am:

UP!!!  And at ‘em as they say!

9:30 am:

Roswell, NM visitor center.  And here I met Suzy!  She was the most amazing visitor center person I have ever met!  I also think she was at most 4’-6”!  Just a wee lil’ thing!  She gave me all sorts of information on where to go in Roswell and pamphlets on the caverns (and when the last tours were)!  She asked me where I would be going after the caverns and I told her El Paso…well…yea…that wasn’t a good idea!  She got all sorts of concerned for me because Juarez, Mexico borders El Paso, Texas and I guess there is some sort of bad drug war going on right now.  (sigh)  She actually grab my arm and said “sweetie, we need to figure out how to get you past El Paso without you getting anywhere near the border!!!” and she had quite a grip for a wee lil’ thang!  Great!  So now I have Desert fires, rednecks, and Juarez drug wars to look out for…um…WHEEEEEEEEEEE!!! 

I went to the museum there and that was cool.  Like a museum but centered around the Spanish and Native Americans and cowboys and the present.  It was heart wrenching at points, but nice to see. 

I also decided to check out the UFO museum.  WHOA!  This is in a building that looks like a high school lunchroom, but with black pegboard everywhere and a spray-painted gray ceiling.  SO much information.  I’m sure that if I was into this sort of stuff I could have spent HOURS here reading everything.  I did spend 1 ½ hours there reading a whole lot of stuff!  I think they have every piece of documentation from every single person who was involved directly or indirectly during the “landing”!!!  It is quite interesting, but iza gots a wee bit bored after a while.  There’s even a research center there, so if you have questions about things, you can go in there and research it!  WHOA!  Aliens.  Them are cool! 

3:30 pm:

Carlsbad Caverns!!!!  This is a GIGANTIC cave in New Mexico that was discovered in the…um…1800’s (?) because some guy was wandering about miles from it at dusk and thought he saw huge plumes of smoke coming from the area…little did he know that the plumes of smoke were hundreds upon thousands of BATS emerging to feed at night!  WOW!!  It’s believed that the bats roost (roost?) here because there’s a river a few miles away (aka bugs).  Unfortunately, New Mexico hasn’t seen rainfall since September 2010; consequently, the bugs are pretty much non-existent, which means that the bats are sparse right now.  All in all, there were only about 300 bats that flew from the cave that night instead of 600,000…think about that for a minute…SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND!!!  AH!!!!  BATS!!!  It twas amazing anyway and I stayed until I could not see anymore (it was me and one other couple in the end…there were about 80-100 people there to start).  Not only was seeing the bats fly from the cave amazing, but the quiet swooshing noise they make with their wings is breathtaking! 

Before the bat viewing I also got to watch Turkey Buzzards circle the area and valley below…one of them left me a feather.  (heart)  This is what Wayne sent me after seeing the feather:  Scientific name:  Cathartes Aura or Golden Purifier.  Symbolism:  purification-death and rebirth-new vision.  Turkey Buzzards left me a gift guide.

The caverns themselves you can tour.  I think it’s about a 3 mile hike down into the belly of the earth.  Maybe 3?  I don’t remember!  GAH!  Anyway, it’s SHOCKINGLY GORGEOUS!  If you go anywhere in your life, please go to the caverns in Carlsbad.  You will not be disappointed!  I can’t even describe it and pictures do it no justice what-so-ever!  It’s HUGE and quiet and ancient.  The bats go deep into the cave on the other end, so one does not disturb them while viewing the other part of the cave.  OK!  GO!  We’ll talk about it together when you get back!!!!

9:00 pm

Whites City, NM which is right below the caverns.

Checked into a hotel and crashed.